German cuisine · Fish & Seafood

Fried Fresh Herring

Fresh herring coated in flour, fried golden brown in butter, and served with lemon and parsley.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 8 fresh herring (cleaned)
• 100 g flour
• 60 g clarified butter
• 40 g butter
• 2 lemons
• 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
• 800 g potatoes
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Peel the potatoes and boil in salted water for 20 min. until soft; meanwhile rinse the herring in cold water and pat very thoroughly dry inside and out.
2. Drizzle the fish with the juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper inside and out, and let sit for 10 min.
3. Coat the herring in flour only right before frying and thoroughly tap off the excess flour, otherwise the coating will come off in the pan.
4. Heat the clarified butter in a large pan until it just starts to smoke, and fry the fish for 4–5 min. per side until the skin is crisp and brown and the flesh loosens easily from the backbone.
5. Add the butter to the pan, let it foam, and baste the herring with it for 1 min., then scatter in the roughly chopped parsley.
6. Pour the browned butter over the fish on warmed plates and serve with the boiled potatoes and wedges of the second lemon.